Siege, The (1998)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis
Director: Edward Zwick
Synopsis: More Arab bashing in this surprisingly well made political thriller. Political views aside, its a fun thriller
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

This film received a lot of flak upon release when Arab organisations criticised it for the negative and stereotypical portrayal of its people. Although there are grounds for disgruntlement in the movie, they are somewhat tempered by a refreshingly positive depiction of the immigrant situation in racial melting pots like New York City.

The plot is not far removed from reality, with its origins in the Oklahoma bombing. In this scenario, Palestinian terrorism spills on to American soil with devastating consequences. Terror grips New York as the American big guns, the FBI, CIA, the military and the president all flounder in their own way. The good guys here are the Feds headed by Denzel Washington as agent Hubbard, an African-American who believes in doing things strictly by the book. Washington, himself a minority, has been deliberately cast as the figure that represents what the USA truly stands for. His sober performance is a considerable factor in lending credibility to the proceedings.

Annette Bening, the noble yet foolishly naive CIA agent, delivers an equally strong performance. Bruce Willis represents the military might with its microscopically narrow and increasingly schizophrenic view of the world. He is well cast in this role.

The Siege manages to be an intelligent and gripping action thriller which makes a valid point - a rare occurrence these days. The major criticism levelled at the film, however, has been that the only Arab shown in a positive light is a man who is totally Americanised in values and lifestyle and therefore considered "acceptable". All other Arabs are shown as the usual shifty, deceptive and slimy types as depicted in 99 per cent of Hollywood movies. There is clearly some substance to this criticism.

Nevertheless, The Siege manages to entertain and enthral, providing all the ingredients needed for a good thriller, political viewpoints aside. It is also a film that pauses to do a little soul searching along the way rather than wallow in simplistic flag waving and jingoism.

The above review was written before 2001 but what follows has been updated following the Terrorist attack in Sept, 2001)

In light of the shocking attacks on New York City and The Pentagon recently by Extremist Terrorists the fictitious events of The Siege now appear chillingly real. The only thing the film got wrong was the extent of devastation the terrorists could actually cause. As we totter on the brink of a cataclysmic new "crusade" isnt it time the voices who represent the true Islam - not the one that preaches self adulation and megalomania and hatred - but the one that preaches tolerance, compassion and moderation be heard from around the mosques of the world?

All this horror could have been avoided if the US was perceived (rightly or wrongly) to be playing an even hand in the Middle East. Will the American people ever realize that this is a fundemental issue in what breeds fanatical hatred against them. The other reason that the U.S is resented is because it represents the controlling power.....the dominator in the current world, while the Islamic world perceives itself as the oppressed (again rightly or wrongly).

In years to come, people might draw the conclusion that what happened in 2001 was a result of predominantly economic conditions and a situation of "Have nots" pitting themselves (with no alternative path in sight - with even thier homeland having been usurped in one glaring case) against the enemy who HAS everything and calls all the shots. These conditions of perceived despair and injustice give rise to extremism and then ambitious, charismatic men exploit the situation just as Germanys economic depression, resulting hopelessness and thier feeling of betrayal prior to WW2 gave rise to the resentment and anger which resulted in another ghastly form of extremism, intolerance and hatred.

Nothing however justifies the killing of utterly innocent civilians, whether it be in New York City or Kabul, Baghdad or London or anywhere else. Humanity must prevail as patriotism, noble though it may be, is surely too narrow minded a view in what is already a rather shrunken world. National boundaries and nation states are temporary, man-made and transient while humanity, with any luck, ought not to be.

The film however has ended up as chillingly prophetic.